"Brings gold home" - Noah Lyles congratulated by Justin Gatlin after becoming USA's first 100m Olympic champion in 2 decades

By Neelabhra Roy

Modified Aug 05, 2024 05:45 GMT

Justin Gatlin lauded Noah Lyles on his 100m triumph at the Paris Olympics. The 27-year-old edged out Kishane Thompson by the barest of margins to win his maiden Olympic gold.

Lyles entered the event as among the heavy favorites to win and clocked 10.04 seconds in the heats to qualify for the semifinals. Here, he took 9.83 seconds to finish his race, which was enough to see him through to the final.

The 27-year-old faced some stiff competition in the likes of Kishane Thompson, Kenny Bednarek and Fred Kerley, among others. However, he just about managed to come out on top by clocking 9.79 seconds, beating Thompson to the gold by just four-thousandths of a second. Lyles thus also created a new personal best.

The 27-year-old became the first American to win the Olympic gold in the 100m event. The last man to attain the feat before Noah Lyles was Justin Gatlin, who triumphed in the 2004 edition of the Summer Games in Athens.

The 42-year-old took to X to laud the 27-year-old on his achievement, saying:

"Noah brings gold home."

The 100m gold is also Lyles' second Olympic medal, having previously won the 200m bronze in Tokyo 2020.

"It was a crazy moment" - Noah Lyles on the wait before the 100m winner was announced

Noah Lyles celebrates winning the Olympic gold (Source: Getty)

The winner of the 100m race at the Paris Olympics wasn't instantly announced as there was a wait until Lyles was confirmed as the gold medalist. Speaking after the race, Lyles said that he initially thought Bednarek had won the race.

"It was a crazy moment because, like I said, I did think that because Kishane had that and I was like, ‘Man, I really, you know, have to swallow my pride,’ which I don’t have a problem doing because respect deserves respect,” the 27-year-old said (as quoted by CNN).

Speaking about his celebration after the winner was announced, Lyles said that his gold medal came against the best sprinters and on the biggest of stages.

“I was like, 'I didn’t do this against a slow field. I did this against the best of the best on the biggest stage with the biggest pressure. And seeing the names, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, there it is,’” he said.

The 27-year-old has two more events to compete in Paris, the 200m and the 4x100m relay.